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One of the more popular cars on the road today is the 2020 Mazda Mazda 3. The newer models are hailed as being “for those who never stop refining.” Yet, customers are struggling to deal with a defective engine, faulty forward collision avoidance and failing service brakes.
Click on other model year to view more problems: 2019 2021 2022
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NHTSA Complaints for the 2020 Mazda Mazda 3
| Complaint Category | Number of Complaints |
|---|---|
| Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking | |
| Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings | |
| Forward Collision Avoidance: Adaptive Cruise Control | |
| Fuel/propulsion System | |
| Electrical System | |
| Engine | |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic | |
| Service Brakes | |
| Unknown Or Other | |
| Structure:body |
Problems with the Engine
Without a reliable engine, no ride can be comfortable. That’s what owners of the Mazda 3 are realizing.
Here’s one Edmunds review worth reading. “I bought this brand new AWD premium Mazda 3 hatchback from [dealer], I had to visit them for service 8 times it’s only 10 k miles on it, I had powertrain problems couple of times and engine system malfunction 3 times, slow wipes engine etc. absolutely disaster. My husband has Audi never had a problem I just can’t believe it’s Japanese brand so, I’m trying to get rid of this junk and never gonna buy any Mazda or Toyota. My opinion is stay away.”
In addition to faulty engines, the fuel system was the focus of class action lawsuit investigations. It turns out Mazda was putting defective fuel pumps in the Mazda 3, causing it to stall or shut down unexpectedly. This led to “substantial risk of injury and death” to occupants. It’s hard to feel comfortable behind the wheel of a car with this level of threat.
Problems with the Forward Collision Avoidance
Today’s safety systems are designed to protect and keep people from harm, but that’s not what the forward collision avoidance software is doing in the 2020 Mazda3.
Here’s one complaint from the NHTSA. “I was on the Queensboro Bridge headed from Queens, NY into Manhattan on the afternoon of August 29. Weather was partly cloudy and dry conditions. Traffic was bumper to bumper and moving anywhere from 0mph to maybe 5mph. I was in the middle of the bridge driving approximately 5mph and my 2020 Mazda3 beeped (collision warning) and applied brakes. I was almost rear ended and my two passengers were jolted forward. I maintained a safe following distance the entire time. I believe a van on my left triggered my car’s actions as it passed. I was in no danger of getting into an accident although I was quite shaken up since this is the first time my car applied its brakes. … Previously, the car from time to time has alerted of a collision always under 40mph and a previous inspection of my vehicle (after I reported collision warning activation) revealed everything was working properly.”
It turns out that there is a recall for this system. NHTSA Campaign Number 19V907000 discusses how 35,000 vehicles can be equipped with a Smart Brake System that detects objects that don’t exist, leading to automatic braking when it shouldn’t occur. The unintended stopping can lead to an accident. Maybe Mazda should take its own advice and “never stop refining,” at least until it figures out how to make a safe vehicle.
Problems with the Brakes
As with that last issue, there are some major defects with the brakes in general.
One more NHTSA complaint states, “The contact owns a 2020 Mazda Mazda3. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the ABS warning light illuminated, and the brakes locked up and caused the vehicle to stall. The contact was able to restart the vehicle however, the failure persisted. … contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer to be diagnosed however, the dealer was not able to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 2,000.”
Additionally, there’s a brake-related recall. NHTSA Campaign Number 20V346000 says that affected vehicles have front brake caliper mounting bolts that weren’t tightened correctly on the assembly line. This mistake causes the calipers to loosen and possibly fall off, thereby reducing braking performance. It’s just one more way Mazda isn’t looking out for its clients but rather putting them at the forefront of danger. Remember when the company’s tagline was “Zoom-Zoom?” Now it should be “Bye-Bye.”
Your Lemon Law Legal Rights
Think you have a lemon? Sit back and let the experts work out your lemon case at no cost to you. The law makes Mazda pay legal fees. You may be able to get your lemon out of your life. Every year, auto manufacturers buy back, replace or pay cash settlements to thousands of ‘lemon’ owners like you.
Complaint Data
| Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking |
| Date | Nov 28, 2022 |
| State | NY |
| Description | •the first incident I had with the sbs was about a month on the highway, I was approaching a vehicle that was braking due to upcoming traffic. I had plenty of time to stop, upwards of 8-10 car lengths. Yet my sbs kicked in and slammed the brakes, jarring me forward. Luckily no one was directly behind me at that time because I have no doubt it would have caused an accident. At that time, it was the only time it had occurred, so I wrote it off as the sensor being a bit too sensitive. •the second incident I have had was recent, 11/23. I was pulling into a parking spot at work, that has a concrete wall to section off parking spots. I was low speed, turned into the spot and the sbs activated, slamming the brakes, resulting in me being propelled into my steering wheel. I was roughly 5-6 feet away from the wall |
| Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
| Date | Aug 13, 2022 |
| State | GA |
| Description | Fuel pump, car dying out, can't turn off brake release from when it dies. Shaking when accelerating. Fuel gas issue. |
| Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings |
| Date | May 16, 2022 |
| State | NY |
| Description | I was traveling approximately 5 mph with approximately 15 feet from the car in front of me, maintaining a constant following distance. The collision warning sounded, followed by emergency braking within 1 second. No collision was imminent. |
| Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings |
| Date | May 16, 2022 |
| State | NY |
| Description | I was traveling 25mph with no obstruction in front of me, when the collision warning sounded. The braking system did not activate. No collision was imminent. |
| Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking |
| Date | Apr 12, 2022 |
| State | OH |
| Description | Was letting car slow down for red light. No cars in front of me. Suddenly the car braked and the brake warning came on. I was pretty far back from the light. I took the car to the dealer and he said the occurrence did not show on the computer. There was a recall for this problem but not for my car. If someone had been behind me or if this happens on a busy street, I would be rear ended. There have been other computer problems with this car but they never happen when the dealer checks for them. |
| Category | Electrical System, Engine |
| Date | Dec 22, 2021 |
| State | CA |
| Description | El vehiculo tiene problemas de encendido, despues de estar en reposo dos dias no enciende se tiene que pasar corriente, inclusive en manejos cortos al volver a encender el vehiculo presenta el mismo problema, este es un problema en la mayoria de este tipo de vehiculos, mismos que son encontrados muchos comentarios en internet, el vehiculo esta en la cdmx mexico. |
| Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings |
| Date | Dec 18, 2021 |
| State | AZ |
| Description | While driving the vehicle decided to suddenly brake ....... Thinking it was dangerous ..... Lucky no one was behind me ..... That was really scarry and could have caused an accident for no reason. |
| Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings |
| Date | Sep 09, 2021 |
| State | VA |
| Description | I was on the queensboro bridge headed from queens, ny into manhattan on the afternoon of august 29. Weather was partly cloudy and dry conditions. Traffic was bumper to bumper and moving anywhere from 0mph to maybe 5mph. I was in the middle of the bridge driving approximately 5mph and my 2020 mazda 3 beeped (collision warning) and applied brakes. I was almost rear ended and my two passengers were jolted forward. I maintained a safe following distance the entire time. I believe a van on my left triggered my car's actions as it passed. I was in no danger of getting into an accident although I was quite shaken up since this is the first time my car applied its brakes. I have an appointment to bring my car in and would like the automatic braking system disabled. Previously, the car from time to time has alerted of a collision always under 40mph and a previous inspection of my vehicle (after I reported collision warning activation) revealed everything was working properly. |
| Category | Service Brakes, Hydraulic |
| Date | Sep 09, 2021 |
| State | PA |
| Description | The contact owns a 2020 mazda mazda3. The contact stated while driving 35 mph, the abs warning light illuminated, and the brakes locked up and caused the vehicle to stall. The contact was able to restart the vehicle however, the failure persisted. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer to be diagnosed however, the dealer was not able to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 2,000. |
| Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Adaptive Cruise Control, Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking |
| Date | Aug 23, 2021 |
| State | ID |
| Description | The mazda radar cruise control (mrcc) system performs poorly (it does not hold a set speed well up and down hill; compared to our 2006 mazda3), but the safety concern is the forceful, sudden, and not-always-predictable braking the vehicle does even if there is not another vehicle in front of us. It brakes, sometimes, for a vehicle in the right lane (we, in the left), and continues to brake unless we override the system. No problem--except if there may be someone following too closely, it could cause a collision. It seems to be related to the mrcc, as no "brake!" warning accompanies the unwanted brake application. I've contacted mazda numerous times; they recommended taking it to the dealer. I have--they can find nothing wrong. All of this seems related to a mrcc update (ssp c5) that was done to smooth the mrcc's operation. It did fix the sudden deceleration and acceleration when following other vehicles, but now is worse in other aspects. I may be wrong, but it all seems to be a software issue, so it's not surprising that the dealer can find "no concerns". As to the date of this incident, it happens nearly every time we take the car on a highway or interstate. |
| Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Adaptive Cruise Control, Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings |
| Date | Jun 16, 2021 |
| State | VA |
| Description | The front radar sensor failed and doesn't work anymore rendering the fcw and acc useless. There is a tsb out about water damage getting into the sensor. There are 2 warning lights on. They first appeared when I turned on my car one day. |
| Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking |
| Date | May 31, 2021 |
| State | CA |
| Description | I was driving 35mph on a side street in “sport†mode. Car system beeped, car auto stopped, red circle with explanation mark and the word break appeared on my center console. My drive shift popped out of drive. No object was in front of my car, nothing ran out in front of it. Fortunately, there weren't any other cars behind me or an accident would have followed. |
| Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking |
| Date | May 05, 2021 |
| State | CA |
| Description | This car is only a few months old, with only 1600 miles. While driving at approx 30 or 40 mph the smart brake system (sbs) falsely detects randomly an obstacle while driving, activating the automatic emergency warning light and alarm. The mazda dealer was unable to duplicate or repair the problem although this has been reported numerous times and was part of an earlier recall. I. E. Mazda recall number 4219l |
| Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings, Service Brakes |
| Date | Mar 13, 2021 |
| State | CA |
| Description | I was driving my vehicle straight ahead on a two-way city street with no other vehicles in front or on my sides. I was traveling at a speed of 40 mph. The two-way street is separated by a concrete divider and trolly tracks. A "brake!" alert appeared on the display screen followed by beeps. Suddenly the brakes were engaged bringing the vehicle to a complete stop causing the vehicle behind to come to a screeching halt. In a few seconds I was able to drive off. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Mar 06, 2021 |
| State | UT |
| Description | My vehicle is less then a year old and has less than 10000 miles on it. The paint is chipping extremely easily. Within the first month I had 3 chips in the paint all the way down to bare metal on the doors. I bought a paint touch up pen from mazda and filled then in. Now, a few months later I filled in 17, yes 17 more on my hood. I didnt even count the chips in the paint on my bumper. This is absurd, my other vehilce that is 17 years on and has over 150k miels has 2 hood chips!! And it's driven the same amount. |
| Category | Structure:body |
| Date | Jan 08, 2021 |
| State | NJ |
| Description | Water coming into cabin from driver door window. Brought it to mazda service center three times and they cannot figure out where water is coming from. Water pools in the door when it rains and seeps into the cabin. |
| Category | Steering |
| Date | Sep 29, 2020 |
| State | IL |
| Description | My new 2020 mazda 3 premium with 1,177 miles suddenly took complete control of steering my car. Driving 65-70 mph on a 3 lane straight highway on a clear day, with light traffic, I moved one lane to my left, and the car took over the steering, pulling my car out of the left lane nearly missing the center cement divider, then darting back across my lane and halfway into the lane to my right,then dashing back to the cement median. I am unaware of how many times the back and forth occurred, I tried to slow the car down to no avail. The car was moving fast, and the pattern the car moved in was very precise, as if the car knew not to hit the median and go further into the lane to my right. Finally the car stopped steering itself, and I was able to exit the highway. My car was not damaged. I hit my head twice on the drives side door. I did not require medical assistance. |
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About the Author:
Brian Jones spent more than 20 years working as an ASE Certified Master Tech and Parts Specialist at multiple dealerships. Brian has become an authority in the industry, traveling across the country to consult for car dealerships and contributing his expertise as a writer for several major automotive publications. In his spare time, Brian enjoys working on pickup trucks, muscle cars, Jeeps and anything related to motorsports.
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